Anchallee Herd, 64, dines with Jose Peralta, 44, both of Anaheim, at El Cantarito Restaurant on Santa Fe Avenue in Old Town Placentia recently. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A panorama shot looks west, north and east. The first building on the left is the 301 Cafe. COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK

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A panorama shot looks west, north, east. The first building on the left is the 301 Cafe. COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK

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Cars line both sides of Santa Fe Avenue on Friday evening as the dinner hour draws closer and Old Town's many restaurants begin to fill. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mario Navarrete, 57, the owner of the Old Town Hair Saloon, has been in business for more than 32 years in Old Town Placentia. Navarrete has noticed an increase in outside clientele through the years, a trend he attributes to the growing number of restaurants in the area. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A panorama shot looks east, south, west. COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK

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A panorama shot looks east, south, west. COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK, COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK

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After a long day of school, Odin Young, 12, of Placentia, naps in a chair at the Old Town Hair Saloon, where his mother works. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The first street light in Placentia was installed on Bradford and Chapman avenues in the 1950s. COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK

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Mario Navarrete, 57, the owner of the Old Town Hair Saloon, has been in business for more than 32 years in Old Town Placentia. Navarrete has noticed an increase in outside clientele through the years, a trend he attributes to the growing number of restaurants in the area. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The 301 Cafe has been a staple of Old Town Placentia for more than 70 years. It serves up Cal-Mex cuisine. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A photo illustration juxtaposes old Santa Fe Avenue and Main Street with its modern incarnation. MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Santa Fe Avenue & Bradford Avenue looking west in the 1920s. The first building on the right is now Tlaquepaque. COURTESY OF JOHN WALCEK

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In the late 1960s, the 301 Cafe in downtown Placentia was a favorite hangout spot for Cal State Fullerton students.

Its combination plates ran $1.75, and its long lines around the block made it the No. 1 restaurant in the area for those looking for good Mexican food.

It was also a time when the cities in Orange County were segregated. If someone wanted Chinese food, they would head to Anaheim; if they wanted Mexican food, they would go to Placentia or Santa Ana, recalled Dennis Blake, a freshman at Cal State Fullerton in 1967 and now the owner of Better Floors and Restorations and five other buildings in the historic Santa Fe Placita of Old Town Placentia.

The decades following the '60s would see the mostly Mexican American farming community in Placentia replaced with white collar workers, but the Santa Fe Placita neighborhood would stand still within time, while occasionally struggling financially and resembling a ghost town.

But, despite its historic appeal, the placita would struggle to bring in customers because of stalled updates that include additional parking and delayed plans to bring in a Metrolink station to aid with a needed influx of customers and merchants from outside of Placentia.

"We didn't want Old Town to be torn down like Brea," said Blake, whose family roots date back 150 years in Orange County. "We didn't want to rebuild the area, we wanted it to be fixed up, and the city wanted that also."

ADEQUATE PARKING A HURDLE FOR DISTRICT'S GROWTH

Old Town is now known for its Mexican food and street festivals, but that could change soon, as the city has plans to bring Old Town into the limelight.

The merchants of the placita have attempted to bring in bigger businesses in the past to help revive the area, but they say that won't happen without more parking.

Last year, Santa Fe Avenue was closed off for its annual Posada Festival, which brought in 18,000 people for the one-day event. However, people had to park at the Home Depot on Placentia Avenue and be brought in by a city trolley.

The city is proposing the construction of a Metrolink station and parking structure with more than 400 spaces. Both would be adjacent to Santa Fe Avenue.

"I see a lot more happening for Old Town, and it is going to be a natural progression," said Placentia Mayor Scott Nelson. "We have interest from developers and restaurant owners from Yorba Linda and Fullerton, and they are waiting for the development of the Metrolink station and parking structure."

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT PROCEEDING SLOWLY

The proposed train station would be about six blocks from Cal State Fullerton and near two freeways.

The station would be an improvement for the merchants of Old Town, as residents and students could commute to and from Los Angeles and Riverside, with Old Town being the middle ground for both cities.

"We are thinking by the end of August, we will have all the approvals and be able to put out and receive a construction bid, then be able to award a contract sometime in the fall of 2013," said city administrator Troy Butzlaff. "It can go into construction by the first quarter of 2014 and still be done by 2015."

With the station, Old Town would be featured as the primary area for restaurants, Blake said.

"They can have lunch or dinner here, and they could do their shopping here and then go home (on the train)," Blake said.

But the merchants have heard of the "new" Old Town before. The train station was supposed to break ground in 2005, Blake said. Eight years later the merchants of Old Town are still waiting for the help.

Because of environmental approval delays in switching from state funding to federal funding and then a combination of both, the station has suffered several years of delays, said Butzlaff.

"I think it is closer to happening this year, but if they don't put in the multistory parking lot ... then it is not going to help the downtown area merchants," said Blake. "You won't find the better businesses (moving to the downtown) without the parking lot."

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